Justice Ch. 02: Ghost Riders

"Are you alright?" I asked. I was concerned because she looked tired.

"Just tired," she said. "I've gotten maybe three hours of sleep since I saw you last night. I started doing some preliminary research last night. As you know, I like to know something about the people I work with. I did a Lexus-Nexis search on your friend, but I couldn't find anything. No birth certificate, Social Security number, tax records, nothing. Not even a drivers license." She took a sip of her coffee and looked at me.

"He also said he served in the Texas Rangers under Bill McDonald," she said. "He got the company and the battalion right, but there's no way he could have served under McDonald." She turned her laptop to face me and brought up a browser screen. It was a page about William Jesse "Bill" McDonald.

"Bill McDonald died in 1918 of pneumonia," she said. "That's over 100 years ago. There's no way Justice could have served under him. Not unless he's well over 100 years old." She looked at me before continuing.

"There's one other thing," she said. "I had a lunch meeting with Judge Stone today."

"The 'hanging judge'? Hasn't he been on the bench like, forever?" I asked.

"Yes," Danni said. "He and my dad go way back. He's the one who inspired me to go to law school, in fact. I told him a bit of what was going on. When I mentioned Justice, his face went white. I thought he was going to have a stroke."

"Really?" I asked. "You mentioned Justice by name?"

"Yes," Danni said. "So tell me. Who is he? Really?"

I took a sip of coffee and weighed my options. I knew I would eventually have to come clean, but I wasn't quite sure how. Danni helped me figure it out.

"Look, Amos," she said. "I love you with all my heart and I plan to spend the rest of my life with you. But we can't have any secrets between us. I need you to be honest with me. I need to know the truth. All of it." I looked at her for a few moments before responding. What was that saying? "The truth shall set you free." This was do or die time. The next few minutes could end my relationship with Danni, and I knew it.

"The truth is stranger than you can believe," I said.

"I can handle it," she said. "Good, bad, ugly, strange, whatever. I've heard it all before."

"You haven't heard this," I said.

"Well, try me," she answered. I nodded my head.

"Promise you won't put me in a loony bin?" I asked. She smiled.

"It can't really be all that strange, can it?" she asked.

"You have no idea," I said.

"Well, just tell me and let me be the judge," she said.

"All right," I said. "Here goes. But remember, I warned you." I took another sip of coffee and began. "The day I learned about Andrea cheating on me, I went to the Hitching Post to drown myself in a beer. That's when I first met him - Justice. He came up to me and started talking. He knew everything about me and knew of my problem with Andrea. At first I thought he was a private investigator. Then he suggested we 'bushwhack' the cheaters. The next night, when Andrea brought her lover into the bedroom to cuckold me, he showed up. He didn't even look human, Danni, and his eyes looked like fire.

"The next thing I know, we're standing in the middle of a dusty street in what looked like an old western town. I went into the saloon and saw them - Andrea, her lover and his three goons. The goons came after me, so I pulled my pistol and shot them," I said.

"You shot them?" Danni asked, shocked. "Dead?" I nodded my head.

"Yes," I said. "I'm not proud of it, but they were pulling their guns and would have shot me dead if I hadn't. Then, when Roscoe - Andrea's lover - pointed a gun at me, I shot him dead as well. When he fell, their table overturned and the lamp set her dress on fire. I couldn't do anything to put it out. The next thing I know, they're all gone."

"Oh my God," Danni said.

"I asked Justice if they were all dead and he said yes," I said. "He told me they were in a very warm place. We went back outside and he gave me this," I added, pulling out my cigarette case. "It was like a light bulb turned on in my head. I knew who he really was."

"Who is he?" Danni asked. "Tell me!" I opened the cigarette case, pulled out the picture and handed it to her.

"Look closely at the man in that photo," I said. Her eyes widened as she studied the photo. She looked back up me, shocked.

"Are you saying Justice is really your great-great-great-great grandfather Elijah?" she asked.

"You saw him up close," I said. "You talked to him. You have his photo right there in your hand."

"Oh my God," Danni said as the realization hit her. "How is this even possible?" I shook my head.

"I don't know," I said. "He promised he would tell me someday. I know my Grandmother Elizabeth wrote about him a lot. Said his sense of justice and right and wrong is part of what attracted her to him. Even after he was shot in the war, she said it was as though he was still there. That's why she never remarried. One entry said she found a lit cigarette in his favorite ashtray one day. No one else was in the house." Danni's eyes were wide as I relayed that to her.

"She handed her engagement ring down, saying she always hoped the woman who wore it would marry a man with the same sense of justice he had, the same desire to stand up for the downtrodden," I said. Danni looked at her ring and her eyes watered.

"You really feel a connection to him, don't you?" she asked, looking back up at me. I nodded my head.

"I do," I said. "I can't explain it, but I feel as though I want to follow in his footsteps sometimes." She smiled and stroked my cheek.

"I can sense that," she said.

"So, do you believe me? Are we still a couple?" I asked nervously. She kissed me softly before answering.

"I believe you," she said. "And of course we're still a couple. I am going to marry you, Amos Jones, and I plan to give you a house full of kids. And I plan to grow old with you. I love you with all my heart, Amos. Never forget that." She wrapped her arms around me and we kissed, our tears mingling together.

"So, what did Judge Stone say when you told him what was going on?" I asked after we broke our embrace and collected ourselves.

"He said if Justice is involved, it has to be something important," she said. "He signed a court order to release Mike into his custody. The order doesn't mention Justice by name, but it says Mike is to be released to whatever authority presents the order. Judge Stone worded it very carefully. He also said he would do whatever he could to help."

"Well that's good," I said. "What else did you learn?"

"It seems that several federal agencies are interested in the activities of Acme Enterprises," she said. "I spoke to a good friend over at the DOJ and learned they're ramping up a full-blown investigation. We're talking human trafficking, drugs, illegal arms sales, ties to terrorists, you name it. They need evidence which apparently exists only in the cloud. Problem is, they haven't been able to gain access to anything they can use in court. Apparently, it's buried so deep no one can get to it. They believe there's a computer somewhere in Albania that can unlock that evidence."

"Albania?" I asked. "Isn't that where Elijah said Mike's wife is being held?"

"You caught that, too," she said. "You think they would be in the same place?"

"Who knows," I said. "Can't they get the CIA to track that down?" She shook her head.

"Things in Washington are in such turmoil these days I don't think any of them can even use the toilet without risking an investigation," she said. "They're all too busy trying to cover their asses."

"It sounds like your friend took quite a risk telling you all this," I said.

"Yes," Danni said. "There's a lot of frustrated people and they're grasping at anything right now."

"What did you learn about Mike?" I asked.

"I pulled up the report I got from Rollins," she said. "And I went over the employment contract he gave them. According to the report, Mike was given an offer of employment with a letter stating he had something of interest for them. The problem is that what they wanted was his wife. She basically became a corporate prostitute and was used and abused in ways you can't even begin to imagine."

"So they plotted this all along," I said.

"Yeah," she said. "His employment contract was for life, and he was promised the same compensation regardless of what he does. But there's a lot of problems with the contract that render it null and void. Putting it all in a nutshell, he was hired and contracted under false pretenses to cover up the company's illegal activity. Add to that the fact that he was illegally imprisoned, tortured, assaulted and his life and marriage destroyed. There's much more, but that's essentially it. It would take me years to draft up all the potential tort cases, and that's not even considering the criminal cases associated with all this. It could be decades before this is all worked out in court, assuming it even gets there."

"I take it you have a plan?" I asked.

"I do," she said. "I've already drafted something up, but I want to talk about it with you and Elijah first."

"Okay," I said, looking at my watch. I didn't realize how long we had been talking, but saw that we had just about enough time for Danni to get dressed before we had to leave. "You need to get dressed, dear, it's about time we headed out." She kissed me one more time and went to her bedroom to get dressed.

We got to the Hitching Post about 10 minutes before Elijah was due to show up, and were escorted to a table in a quiet corner of the bar. We just got settled in when he came in. We stood as he was ushered to the table and ordered a round of beer.

"Good to see you again, Grandpa Elijah," Danni said as he shook her hand. He looked at me confused for a moment before speaking.

"I take it you told her?" he asked me.

"I did," I said.

"Well, let that be a lesson to ya, son," he said. "Never try to put one over on yer wife, 'specially if she's an attorney."

"You don't mind if I call you Grandpa Elijah, do you?" she asked him. He smiled broadly before speaking.

"I'd be insulted if you didn't, young lady," he said as we sat down. "By the way," he said, looking at Danni. "You once wondered if Lizzy would approve of you wearing her ring. She not only approves, she said to tell ya she can't think of anyone more worthy of it. And I gotta admit, it looks just as pretty on you as it did on her."

"Thank you, Grandpa," she said, wrapping her arms around him, her eyes watering. "I wish I could have met your wife. From what Amos said, she was quite a woman."

"She's the best," he said, hugging her back. "And who knows, maybe one day soon you will meet her," he added with a wink. After the waitress brought our beer, we turned to business. Danni pulled out the court order signed by Judge Stone and handed it to Elijah.

"Here's a court order signed by Judge Stone," she said.

"Would that be Judge Alfred Stone?" he asked. Danni nodded her head in the affirmative. "Met him once, a long time ago. Good man."

Danni rehashed everything we had discussed earlier in the day, then laid out her plan. Elijah and I listened in silence and his face broke out into a grin when she finished.

"I like the way you think, little lady," he said. "You better stay on this woman's good side, son," he added, looking at me. We all had a good laugh over that. I had to admit, her idea sounded just about crazy enough to work. We talked a bit more about what Danni's friend had told her.

"So, you think this computer thing is in Albania, huh?" he asked.

"Yes, that's what my friend thinks," she said. Elijah looked at me.

"I reckon that means you'll be comin' with us," he said.

"Us?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said. "I'm rounding up a posse. They're all good with a gun, but they don't know anything about computers. That's your line of work, remember?"

"So, we're going to Albania?" I asked.

"That's right," he said. "Carson left for Albania early this morning in a company plane. I've already scouted the place out and I have a plan of attack."

"We'll need to line up tickets, get passports. This could take some time," I said. Elijah laughed and shook his head.

"No need, son," he said. "I've got that covered."

"So, when do we leave?" I asked.

"Tomorrow morning," he said. "I'll meet you two at your place at sunrise," he added, looking at me.

"Okay," I said. "Let's do it." We all agreed on the plan and stood to leave. Elijah turned to Danni.

"So, when are you two gonna get hitched?" he asked.

"I don't know," she said. "We just got engaged on Sunday and we haven't had a chance to discuss it yet."

"That's right," he said. "That was just before you two went down to the pond."

"You saw that?" she asked, shocked.

"Not personally, but I heard about it," he said, smiling. "Don't worry, I was a young buck m'self once. I just hope you don't wait too long to get married, if ya know what I mean," he added, glancing at Danni's stomach. Her eyes grew wide.

"You mean," she began. He smiled and nodded his head.

"Yup," he said.

"How do you know?" she asked.

"I can tell a lot by looking at a person," he said. "Best be getting back," he added. "Tomorrow's gonna be a helluva day." We said our goodbyes and headed out. Danni decided to ride home with me.

"Did you hear what Elijah said?" she asked as I drove.

"What, that you're pregnant?" I asked. "I heard."

"Yeah," she said. "How do you feel about that?"

"Happy and excited," I told her. "I'm gonna be a dad. Wow. I guess we'll need to get married pretty quick."

"Do you still want to?" she asked.

"Hell, yeah," I told her. "I love you and I can't stand to be away from you," I added, kissing her hand. "When this is over, what do you say we get married?"

"I'd love that," she said, snuggling up to me.

"Then I guess I'll have to turn one of the spare bedrooms into a nursery," I said. We talked about children the rest of the way home. When we got there, we slipped upstairs and made love before falling asleep in each others' arms.

We were both up by 4:00 am and took a shower together before getting dressed. We grabbed a quick cup of coffee before Elijah knocked on the door.

"You ready?" he asked me. I nodded my head. "Good. I reckon I oughta deputize ya first."

"Okay," I said. He nodded his head.

"Uh, go ahead and raise yer right hand," he said. I did as he said. "You promise and swear and all that stuff?" he asked.

"Yeah, I do," I said. He pinned a badge on my shirt.

"Congratulations, yer a deputy now, with all the protection and authority that goes with it," he said. "And may God have mercy on yer soul."

"Thanks," I said.

"Don't thank me yet, son," he said. "We're just getting' started." He turned to Danni. "You got that court order?"

"Here it is," she said, handing it to him. He nodded his head.

"Good," he said. "This probably won't take too long, so I need ya to saddle up Ringo and meet us at the edge of the clearing overlooking Jacobs Ravine."

"Okay," she said. "I'll see you there." We all walked outside and Elijah went to his horse. He came back with a rope in one hand and a rifle in the other. I could tell it was a Winchester Model 1892 44-40 with a modified lever. He handed me the rifle.

"This is for you, son," he said. "It's been modified jes' a bit for ya." He pointed to a small pin on the underside of the lever. "Push that up till it locks and all you have to do is cycle the lever to fire. You don't even have to pull the trigger. Go ahead and give it a shot." He pointed to a tree stump in the middle of the back yard. "Put about five good shots in that stump," he said. "Jes' keep yer eye on the stump and point the gun in the same direction."

I pushed the pin until it locked and put the gun in my shoulder the way my dad taught me a long time ago.

"No, no, son," Elijah said. "From the hip. Shoot from the hip." I put the butt of the rifle against my upper leg for support and pointed it the way he said. "That's it," Elijah said. I cycled the lever quickly, five times. I was amazed at how easily the lever cycled. Each time, the rifle fired and I could see all five shots hit the center of the stump. When I finished, I pushed the pin and it disengaged and cycled the action to eject the last shell.

"WHOOOAH," Danni exclaimed. Elijah smiled and slapped me on the back. I was pretty pleased with myself.

"I'll make a lawman outta you yet, son," Elijah said. Danni turned to me, smiling, her eyes gleaming.

"My husband, the Rifleman," she proudly proclaimed. "Dad's gonna flip when he sees this."

"That was kinda cool, wasn't it?" I asked her.

"It was way cool," she said. "Those bad guys don't stand a chance now." I laughed.

"Well, if you two are done playing, we gotta get going," Elijah said.

"Wanna take my truck?" I asked. Elijah shook his head.

"No need," he said. "Jes' stand right there." As I watched, he twirled his rope over our heads and let the loop of the lariat fall over us. The next thing I knew, we were in an empty corridor. "Follow my lead," he said. "I'll do the talkin'. You jes' keep an eye on the guards."

"Got it," I said. Elijah opened a door and stepped inside. I followed closely behind him. Three guards stood up as we walked in.

"What can we do for you?" one of them asked. Elijah pulled the court order from his pocket and handed it to the guard.

"We're here for Michael Bradley," he said. The guard looked the order over and saw the official signature and seal. He turned to another guard.

"Go get Bradley," he said before turning back to us. I kept an eye on both guards, but it seemed they were also keeping an eye on me - or to be more precise, the modified rifle in my right hand. A minute later, the guard returned with Mike, who was still in shackles.

"Take the irons off," Elijah ordered. They complied and pushed Mike in our direction. Elijah positioned Mike behind him and backed up out of the office. I waited until he was nearly out the door, my rifle at the ready, before I backed out.

Once in the hallway, Elijah produced his lariat and before we knew it, we were on the clearing by Jacobs Ravine. I looked down the hill and could see my house. Danni emerged from the tree line with Ringo's reins in her hands. She kissed me on the lips and handed me the reins before turning to Mike.

"You must be Michael Bradley," she said. He nodded his head.

"Yes, ma'am, that's me," he said.

"I'm Danni Williams," she said. "I tried to contact you but I couldn't reach you."

"That's alright," he said, still shaken from his experience. "It wasn't your fault."

I put the rifle in the scabbard Danni had put on Ringo and turned to see Elijah riding up on his giant horse. With him were seven other riders. I tried to make them out, but their faces were somewhat blurred.

"Who are these guys?" I asked.

"That fella over there's Pat Garrett," Elijah said. "Next to him is Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Bill Tilghman, Wild Bill Hickok, and of course, my old boss, Bill McDonald." They each nodded their head once and touched the brim of their hat as Elijah introduced them. "I figured since we're going after the worst, we need the best."

"Pleasure to meet y'all," I said. One of them spoke out.

"You sure you wanna take this tenderfoot with us, Elijah?" the man said. "Hell, he ain't hardly outta diapers yet." It looked like the comment came from Doc Holliday, but I wasn't certain. "You ever shoot a six-gun, boy?" the man asked.

"Yes, sir, I have," I said.

"I meant, at a man?" he added.

"I have," I said. "And I'll do it again if I have to."

"I don't know about this, Elijah," he said. "We're already dead, so they can't kill us again. I ain't got time to nursemaid a mortal young 'un."